Changes Define Public Defender’s First Year

From The San Bernardino (California) Press-Enterprise (may require subscription):

San Bernardino County officials proclaimed they got a public defender with a “great deal of passion” when they hired Doreen Boxer last year.

The county also got an attorney who not only questions the status quo, but refuses to let the “same-ole, same-ole” stand in her way of reform.

“It’s not an ‘old boys network.’ It’s cultural inertia,” Boxer said of her obstacles. “Everybody’s comfortable. They say, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ “

A year ago this week, Boxer, 41, took the reins of an office in which 111 trial attorneys handle 55,000 indigent cases annually. That contrasts with Riverside County, where 138 trial attorneys annually manage 35,000 cases, she said.

The office, according to a 2002 audit, needed more office space and attorneys as well as lighter caseloads.

Complicating matters, an interim public defender had managed the office for almost a year after Public Defender John Roth was placed on administrative leave in January 2005. Roth, under fire for hiring a lawyer who had been convicted on misdemeanor charges, quit four months after his suspension.

Doing Things Differently

Boxer’s changes include:

Representing defendants at arraignments, which is the first court appearance when arrestees face their charges. This change had been under consideration for years before Boxer arrived.

A decrease in judges’ firings of deputy public defenders for ineffective representation. Judges granted 46 “Marsden motions” in the year before Boxer arrived but only two within the past nine months.

Teaming with the county’s Probation Department in eliminating “pre-sentencing reports” in an estimated 1,500 convictions involving drugs but no victims. That move enabled the Probation Department to redirect seven more officers to checking on probationers instead of writing routine reports.

Establishing an annual “state of the office” presentation so employees all over the county can meet the boss and network face-to-face.

Developing a training program that includes evening seminars, a two-volume training manual and a new-hire mentoring program.

Reorganizing public defender investigators and establishing a bureau that sifts through defendant claims and focuses on cases that could include an incorrect identity or unjust charges.

Bureau Chief Martin Dante said that after the reorganization, his 35 investigators could better use their time.

“What you had before was a person on investigation that dealt with advocacy versus unbiased reporting,” Dante said. “We know quickly if there is merit to the defense.”

Boxer, a law professor and occasional Court TV commentator, had worked as a defense attorney in New York and in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

She said her experiences, as well as staff field trips, enabled these new ideas to be explored and implemented.

“Nobody can see beyond what is already being done,” Boxer said. “It’s people coming from other systems.”

The Caseload Debate

Daniel Mangan, who was a public defender trial attorney for 23 years before leaving in 2006, said Boxer should have focused on reducing the caseload.

“I think the first thing is to get your caseload under control,” Mangan said. “That would have been my first thing.”

Mangan said deputy public defenders are dealing with ever-increasing and stressful caseloads that dilute the quality of their work.

County records show the average caseload among public defender trial attorneys last year was 437, and is projected next year to reach 609, almost a 40 percent jump.

“Active caseloads have not decreased despite the department’s efforts, as case filings have outpaced staff increases,” according to the public defender’s business plan for 2008.

Her office last year received an additional $2 million in funding that was used to hire 14 people, including eight new trial attorneys, she said.

Boxer said caseload reduction has been in progress since she started.

“It’s an ongoing struggle,” she said. “The goal is more efficient representation to reduce caseload.”

Future improvements for the public defender include developing a data-collection system tailored to the needs of her office, Boxer said.

“We have the district attorney’s old system jerry-rigged for the defense,” she said.

Boxer said she will continue seeking more ways to improve her office, even if that means having people trying unfamiliar methods.

“I’m very proud of the work we’ve done,” Boxer said. “We’re hearing all the time about the cases we win and the good work on the cases we may not have won.”